Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1887-04-09


900 of the fish were thrown upon the :.
York market in one day The niar. T
was glutted; over 1,00o,o00 were not
used, but Were thrown into the river by
the fishermen. Prices dropped from ten cents
to one and half cents pound. and til. n to
five mackerel for cent. With the drop in
prices syndicate was formed by q number of
the wealthy residents Of Chinatown, and
about four millions of the fish were purchased.
Eo: week Mott street reeked with the smell
o! smoked mackerel, dried mackerel, picked
rra ler; and soused mackerel Everybody
vas :. Wo"k curing the fish, and in less than
sixty Gays the cl fish were sol al :. ar
profit of something over sl50,U00, AMI the
original investment, including hire of the men
who cured and packed the fish, could not have
been over $4,000
h*a
For some time Wong Chin Foo, the enter
prising young Mongol who ran The Chinese
American, has been agitating the subject of
q Chinese theatre. The Chinese population
in New York and vicinity is large enough to
make it a paying investment, and Wong cal
culated upon receiving a substantial support
from novelty loving New Workers. The
schemes of the ex-journalist did not, how
ever, find favor in the eyes Of the conserva,
tive capitalists. So they coolly appropriated
his idea and are quietly organizing synd-
cate Of their own. They propose to lease foi.
long term one of the smaller theatres i'm tie
lower end of the Bowery or possibly large
dime museum. They will thoroughly over
haul it and fit it up to present the highest
class of Chinese plays with first class stock
company The main difficulty is importing
the company, not only because of the ex-
pense of getting them over, passages and sal
aries, which are no small item, but also on &C
count of the stringency of the laws relating to
Chinese immigration. Another expensive
feature is the costumes. A Chinese theatre has
I practically no scenery, but the costumes are
magnificent. In the Chinese theatre in San
Francisco the costumes are kept in large chests
at the back of the stage and the actors take
them out and put them away in full view of
the audience. The richest silks, most expen-
sive and elaborate embroideries in gold and
silver thread, and swords and armor of the
finest LACQUER iurr;lsted with gold and gems
are required by the critical Chinese az lice.
The orchestra sits on the stage and to Ame:.i-
can ears Chinese music is a wild, weird
thing. Expert Juggiers and tumbleIs are also
always included in a Celestial theatrical
company. These people draw good salaries,
so it can be easily estimated that starting a
Chinese theatre is matter of no little ex-
pense. The Chinaman, though, is sure if he is
slow, and once the idea has taken root in his
mind, as this has under the pigtails of the
Vanderbilts of Mott street, he will stick to it
until it is accomplished.
**m
The japanese village, which had such run
la ~ =.
has become quite fad with a certain class
Of Bohemian New Workers to dine at the
Chinese restaurants, has planted another idea
in the brains OF the cautious Celestial million
aires. There is considerable talk among
them of starting a Chinese restaurant to cater
FOR Caucasian patronage somewhere on upper
Broadway, probably between Twenty-third
and Thirty third streets. This scheme has
been but lately preached, and fancy that l
happened to be one of the first Americans to
get wind of it. Until they know you the
Chinese are the most reticent people in the
world. They even feign a lack of knowledge
Of English. They are courteous, obliging,
gentlenanly, but they obstinately refuse to
understand what you say to them. When,
however, they become convinced that
you are 'ho pang yo," which is the
Chinese equivalent for a mighty good
fellow, they become communicative and
chatty enough. This restaurant they pro
nose to fit up in Chinese style, and furnish
Chinese food cooked in the highest style Of
art Their bill Of fare is not half so unat-
| tiucive to the Caucasian palate as is gener-
ally supposed. OF course it is conceded that
| they can beat the world in the preparation Of
rice and tea. But in addition to this their
- . l. al e f,,1l
equal to Neapolitan spagatti. They excel the
French cooks In making chicken bouillon,
and number of dishes which have no analo-
IS on our bill of fare are very toothsome.
"ohow-chop-Suey, for example, is a stew
made of tripe, chickens liyers and giz-
yards, beans and celery. "Chop-seow"
is delicious method of preparing roast
pork, while they have pastries and cakes and
confections in infinite variety. I have taken
many friends through the Chinese quarter,
! both here and in San Francisco, and have
yet to find one who could not make a good
elmer out of the ordinary Chinese bill OF
fare.
Yet the popular prejudice is 50 strong that
I was by no means enthusiastic over the
scheme of my Chinese friends. Notwith-
| standing the love of novelty in the average
New Yorker, he is very careful of what he
puts into his stomach, and l fancy that WIS.,
| ions of kittens and rats would keep the Chi
nese restaurant from being largely patron
lied can only say that have eaten many
meals in Chinese restaurants and have never
knowingly eaten anything of the kind II l
have unconsciously partaken Of a succulent
PUSSY or smacked my lips over an unusually
delicate rodent, mistaking it for something
else, can only say that 1t was good, and
am satisfied. ALLAN FORMAN.
FAMOUS ART TREASURES.